


Necessary Distractions

by Havokftw



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Awkwardness, Carnival, Circus, Halloween, Jicheol, Kissing, M/M, Scary Clowns, Some grinding action, haunted house ride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 07:21:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8392381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Havokftw/pseuds/Havokftw
Summary: Jihoon hates clowns.....





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just some Halloween Jicheol I had lurking about, then i thought....it's nearly Halloween. I could upload this. I don't hate clowns....love em actually. Every year had one at my birthday. But this chick at work is so terrified of them I am so tempted to dress up as one for Halloween for a laugh.

“Step right up, step right up” An elaborately dressed man, in a garishly sequenced maroon suit and black top hat, twirls his cane, commanding the attention of passers-by. “Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls of all ages, come forth and witness the greatest show on Earth” His boisterous voice rang through the night air, and people flocked towards him.

“Prepare to be amazed, be enchanted, be mystified. For the very last night you can see every creature ever imagined by your mind, every creature from your dreams...and maybe even some from your nightmares! Some will make you laugh. Some will make you cry!” he recited loudly, as one of his associates blew fire into the air, bringing childlike joy to the gathering crowds faces.

 “Guys?” Seokmin asks expectantly, turning to look at his friends.

 “Ugh! Yeah...alright” Seungkwan confirmed.

 “OK, but this is the final attraction we stop at...I’ve got a quiz tomorrow morning and I haven’t started revising yet!" Hoshi complained.

 “Jihoon...you coming?” Seungkwan motioned to their smallest member.

Jihoon eyed the poster plastered on the side of the circus tent warily, it had a giant fucking clown on it, it’s painted face grinning and horrific.

“Hmm..No. I think I’ll sit this one out…..” Jihoon replied.

Seokomin had demanded they visit the travelling carnival that hit town last week. But with the rush of end of term exams and several rain checks, they only managed to arrange this venture for the closing night. Jihoon isn’t awfully fond of amusement parks or carnivals, who would be? You practically queued for everything, rides, games, food, _the fucking toilet_. Pissing wasn’t a privilege, it was a fucking necessity and he hated the idea if queuing for it.

And it wasn't even one of the big, fancy carnivals that rolled through town every summer, the ones with big rides and even bigger rollercoasters that drew thousands. It was one of the shitty, backwater, traditional, carnie infested; littered with food carts, game stands and fortune telling leeches- kinda carnivals. It was like they had stepped back in time, to when health code violations and safety checks just didn’t matter.

They had meandered around the park for the better part of two hours, losing at games that had been clearly rigged in advance and eating run of the mill carnival junk. Most of the rides were in a state of severe disrepair; there was a Ferris wheel, which didn’t even light up anymore, a run-down carousel with several headless horses, and various spinning death contraptions that were sure to result in whiplash, decapitation and a lawsuit. How they had a permit to operate any of them was beyond belief.

Jihoon broke away from the group, not wishing to be dragged into the tent in the heave if the crowd and stood to the side near a vending cart, listening to the rides buzzing and whirring around him, the sounds of games being played, lost and won. There was a chill in the air but the scent of popcorn and fried dough mingled with firecrackers was strangely comforting.

“Where is everyone?” a voice asked him from the side, he turned to address Seungcheol, standing next to him, carrying an enormous candy floss mass in one hand and a bucket of popcorn clutched to his chest.

“Oh...they went inside” Jihoon gestured to the high top tent ahead of them. “You can still catch up with them if you want”

“Why aren’t you going in?” Seungcheol asked, trying to bite into his candy floss and succeeding in getting it all over his cheeks instead.

“I....don’t like the circus...” Jihoon explained weakly. In truth, it was the idea of clowns lurking through the audience that terrified him.

“OK...I’ll hang back with you then” Seungcheol said, still wrestling with his treat, before giving up and dumping the candy floss and popcorn in the nearest trash can, licking he sticky sugar residue from his fingers.

Seungcheol was looking about curiously, his hands shoved in his pockets. His casualness was an act, Jihoon suspected, but it was the best he could probably hope for, right now. Until the others returned, it was going to be awkward as fuck.

Despite sharing a few friends, greeting each other in the school corridors and working on a few class projects together, they hardly knew each other, which always resulted in strained conversations on Jihoon’s part. At least in a group they didn’t really have to converse stiffly, they could sit back and allow the others do the talking, navigate and steer their tentative friendship. Now, with just the two of them, the gawkiness was unbearable without Seungkwan’s inane chatter or Seokomin’s eclipsing laughter. All they could do was stare blankly at each other, break out into strained smiles and nod.

Seungcheol broke the silence first. “So....hmm”

“Yeah...uhmm”

The night seemed to cool further, when Seungcheol spoke again his breath was visible in the air. “Uhh..congratulations..on getting the lead in the school play by the way” Seungcheol praised sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

“Oh...yeah. Thanks” Jihoon replied, trying to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. “I mean...Peter Pan...it was an obvious choice. I think they only picked me cause I’m short and won’t weigh down the stunt ropes” Jihoon deflected, scuffing his converse on the gravel trying to control the heat blooming on his face.

“I dunno about that…you’re pretty …gifted.....you were really good in last years play too...” Seungcheol offered meekly, kicking dust of the floor.

This time Jihoon’s smile came easier. “Thank you Seungcheol” Jihoon said quietly, his eyes darting down and then forward and his blush returning. “Ugh...you...played really well in last weeks match...I hear you’ve got a new scoring record for the school....that’s …awesome” Jihoon offered praise in return.

“Yeah...thanks” Seungcheol said, grinning.

The silence between them grew again.

“How long is the circus act going to be?” Seungcheol asked, after another awkward silence, making a visible effort to change the conversation.

Jihoon clicked his tongue “I think it’s like a 30 minute show...it should finish soon”

_Unlike this conversation which is lasting for fucking ever!_

“Ok. …….oh…..Check it out...Creep House” Seungcheol gestured to the dilapidated mansion attraction festering in the corner of the park, hidden in the shadows of the big top. “Let’s check it out” he said, jerking a thumb towards it. It had been a request inflected like a question.

“Uhmm....” Jihoon hummed, sounding reluctant.

“C’Mon....it will be fun...these rides are hella old....they’re not even scary anymore. It’s just gusts of air and pop out skeletons”

He felt sticky fingers curl loosely around his wrist at first, and when he looked up, Seungcheol was watching him, towering over him with a huge confident smile, requesting some sort of silent permission. And when Jihoon simply stared back, the older boy took it as acceptance, tightened his grip and pulled him towards the dilapidated looking structure.

Had it been anyone else, to be so bold as to take his hand, Jihoon would not have hesitated to tear them down a peg or two for it. But this was Choi Seungcheol.

Choi Seungcheol the school basketball captain, the class president, the exceedingly friendly, annoyingly popular, clumsy and loud jock who held a high status in every circle he drifted in because of the charisma he radiated. He was a cookie cutter template for everything Jihoon avoided in a person. Too brash and too bright like the sun.

And off course, ever the nihilist, Jihoon had been crushing on him hard for a while, now. Quietly, of course, and from afar. Jihoon wasn’t good at sports, he was smart but not brilliant at any one thing, except perhaps for singing. He was shy and subdued around new faces, derisive and blunt with those who knew him well. In short, Jihoon was weird and Seungcheol was popular and it just wasn’t going to work out any which way he thought about it.

As they walked up the midway towards the entrance, Jihoon could hear the ghoulish moans, sinister laughs and ear-piercing shrieks that echoed from inside. There was no queue, oddly enough for a Halloween ride on Halloween week, but rides like this had dropped in popularity, they just could no longer rouse the same fear and thrill as modern day television.

Standing at the base of the structure Jihoon could see poorly designed and stuffed models of skeletons, ghosts, and werewolves, eyeing him down from their towering perches. “Do you think….they have clowns inside?” Jihoon asked quietly.

Jihoon hated clowns. And from the assessing look Seungcheol was giving him, he'd guessed it as well. Seungcheol’s face slackened for a second before he flashed a surprised smile down at Jihoon, filling his stomach with butterflies. “Do you have a fear of clowns or something? Is that why you didn’t want to go into the circus with the others?” he asked. The teasing lilt in his voice was carefully covered by curiosity, but there all the same.

Jihoon let out a humorless little laugh at that. “Nn-no” his voice cracked and then he cleared it. “I just wanted to know the theme….creep house is a little vague” he deflected.

Laughing, Seungcheol nudged him forward with an elbow towards the gate and they flashed their tickets at the lone attendant; a man in his mid 30’s with a goatee; who unlinked the chain and let Seungcheol and him through, clipping the chain back in place after. He silently gestures for them to pick a cart in the staging area, a two seated enclosure that runs along a train like metal rail.

Seungcheol climbed into the cart, patting the seat next to him “If you _do_ get scared…..you can hold my hand” Seungcheol teased again, winking for added effect.

Jihoon _pssshed_  and shot him one of his iconic silencing glares, which faltered the moment the attendant yanked the safety bar down.

“Excuse me” Jihoon tries to catch the ride attendant’s attention, who acknowledges him with a gruff “What”

“Are there....are there any clowns on the ride?” he asks timidly, surprised by the sound of his own shaky voice.

“Dunno kid” the man replies with a listless shrug. Jihoon swallowed down a distressed little sound. He smiled shyly at Seungcheol’s raised eyebrow. “Never ridden it before...guess you can find out and let me know when you make it out the other side _.....if you make it out”_ he adds, grinning impishly, and before Jihoon has a chance to protest, he slams his hand down on the console and the car jolts forward on the tracks, smashing the entry doors open.

Jihoon gasps with the sudden lurch forward, instinctively grasping at the seat next to him, clutching Seungcheol’s arm tight. “You’re sure you don’t have a problem with clowns Jihoon?” Seungcheol asks, amusement making the corners of his mouth twist up.

Jihoon shoots him a glare and a curt “Yes”, removing his hand from Seungcheol’s arm, face burning, he adjusts his scarf so that it falls neatly over his shoulders and looks dead ahead, as the cart smashes through another set of doors and plunges them into darkness.

The ride starts with a sharp turn in the dark, and despite the safety bar cramping them into the rubber seats, Jihoon is carelessly flung to the side. He rights himself just as a skeleton pops out from the left corner, laughing maniacally. Jihoon shivers, and pulls his scarf over his nose and mouth, trying to take shallow breaths Following that the cart lurches again, tilting them downwards as they pass through a spiralling, narrow corridor, giving the illusion of their descent into hell or madness with its hypnotizing, luminescent spirals, painted on the walls.

“Ohhh” Seungcheol coos excitedly next to him and Jihoon tries hard not to empty the contents of his stomach with the dizzying display before him.

A cool blast of air hits them from the side, just before the cart lurches again and Jihoon is thrown against the larger boy helplessly. By the time the second surprise jumps out at them, in the form of a bloodied maid wielding a kitchen knife, he’s already trying to crawl out of his seat and back towards the exit. Seungcheol reaches out to support him but Jihoon bats his hand away, refusing to look fearful. He detaches himself from Seungcheol’s side and scoots back into his seat as ear piercing screams and flashing lights cloud his senses.

Another jump up mannequin, a hockey masked axe welding killer startles them, and their car stops long enough for them to make out the ropes and levers puppeting him. It's hardly terrifying, but paranoia has him rigid in his seat, eyes wide with panic. Jihoon felt Seungcheol wrap an arm around his shoulder. It was a light touch, but warm and solid and alive. Enough to push back the momentary spike of fear building in him. Another sudden turns happens, and the cart speeds up into a solid brick wall and just when it looks like they’re surely going to crash, it speeds down the side instead, past more macabre mechanical creations.

“Oh my  _god_ ” Jihoon lamented when the sound of wailing assaulted his eardrums, so loud that he was temporarily deafened, followed by a sharp crash and a mechanical bear exploded through the door to their left. Jihoon choked out a gasp of surprise and borrowed closer against the other boy.

Seungcheol shifted his other hand up to wrap around the slighter boy’s waist, cradling him closer. He felt Jihoon curl small fingers into his jacket, eyes squeezing shut, fear rising on his features as he struggled to block out the relentless assault on his senses. “Just admit you’re a little scared and I’ll let you hold my hand Jihoonie” Seungcheol shot back with a wicked grin.

Despite the shrill whine Jihoon released, he shook his head defiantly.

The next scare, a mangled corpse, left Jihoon a jittery mess, bouncing and wiggling in his seat with every jump and screech that assaulted them. He kept knocking into Seungcheol every few seconds, until finally Seungcheol hooked an arm around his waist and pulled them flush together. “I’ll just pretend like you admitted it instead...how about that”

Seungcheol was thoroughly enjoying the ride, laughing out loud and pointing at the hideous creations that poked out from unsuspecting quiet corners. Jihoon on the other hand, was close to flat lining. The moment he sensed, what felt like hair, but was most likely cotton wool, brush over the top of his head he started whimpering pathetically into the other boy’s shoulder.

Then the ride slowed to a stop, and Jihoon ventured to open his eyes, they were in a darkened room and the safety bar had not yet retracted to indicate the end of the horror. His first logical thought was that the ride had broken down. It was possible, it was a very old ride.

“Ohh...something goods about to happen….I can feel it” Seungcheol whispers to him. Jihoon avoids returning the ‘well duh!’ that’s tripping on the edge of his tongue because he can’t trust his voice to come out sounding calm and measured.

Through the prevailing darkness, a small light flickers at the end of the track. There is a figure standing ahead of them, another mechanical creation probably hooked and moving on a rail but it was hard to see in the low light. Just then, a music box begins playing a broken melody and shrill laughter fills the corridor, the light brightens revealing a garish clown like beast looming towards them, slowly. Jihoon all but squeals in uncontrollable fear, crumpling in his seat and releasing one shrill yell after another, clasping at the safety bar, trying to lift it off hysterically.

Seungcheol freezes next to him, watching him panic and flail. He acts on impulse and reaches out “Shhh...hey...hey, it’s OK...holy shit....chill...it’s just a mannequin...” he tries to soothe the younger boy, pulling him even closer, Jihoon’s forehead came to rest in the crook of his neck, his small body trembling in distress.

Seungcheol’s hand rubs down his back in an appeasing motion, all the while trying to talk sense into him. “Jihoonie....it’s OK...relax” he soothes.

He let Seungcheol pull him on to his lap, he couldn’t get on fast enough. He sagged against him, bent his head, folding into him, slipping his arms around his neck, clasping them tightly as he wailed into Seungcheol’s jacket collar. The clown creature seems frozen in place, Seungcheol thinks perhaps it’s gears have lodged, preventing it from retracting down the rail again. The cart isn’t budging either and trepidation builds in the back of his head as his eyes dart around the room, it’s too quiet, like the ride has been shut off from the outside.

Jihoon whimpers against him, begging for the horror to end and the older boy keeps his eyes pinned on the creature, afraid to look away, afraid to give it an opportunity to creep ever closer.

“Cheeol!” Jihoon wails into his neck “make it stop!” he begs, helpless.

Seungcheol cups the smaller boy’s head, pulling him away from his neck and does the only thing he can think of in that moment to comfort him.

Jihoon’s screaming is interrupted by Seungcheol grabbing his face in two hands and telling him “It’s ok!” Then suddenly- Seungcheol’s mouth is hot against his lips, pressing his mouth to Jihoon’s all desperation and demand.

Jihoon makes a questioning noise against Seungcheol’s mouth, because he's still not sure how this even began. Seungcheol draws back to look at him, searching his face. He looks just as confused as Jihoon feels, but something flickers in his eyes and then he makes a sound like nothing Jihoon’s ever heard and grabs him, drawing him closer and kisses him again. Jihoon leans into the kiss desperate and hungry, he feels teeth nipping at his bottom lip, then a tongue swiping across the seam, requesting entry, Seungcheol’s breath is hot and fast in his mouth as he parts his lips and lets the tongue slide in to play against his.

Jihoon’s fingers curl around Seungcheol’s arms, squeezing his biceps and his stomach does a flip at their size. Seungcheol lets out a groan and wraps his arms around Jihoon’s frame, running his hands over every inch of his clothing like he's trying to smooth it into Jihoon’s skin.

Seungcheol pulls his scarf away, freeing his neck, breaking the kiss and working his lips down across his chin and jaw. He mouths at that sensitive spot just below his ear, nipping gently and closing his lips over Jihoon's pulse.

“Fuck…Jihoonie” Seungcheol breathes at his ear as his touches rove lower, hands smoothing down his sides and over his hips to cup his ass. All Jihoon can hear is his own ragged breathing as Seungcheol buries his face in his collar, busily sequestering hot, sucking kisses at the base of Jihoon’s neck. Jihoon’s hands grasp at the other boy’s shoulder, he licks the shell of his ear, making Seungcheol thrust his hips forward.

Jihoon’s breath hitches when warm hands slide up under his t-shirt, skirting across soft skin and he whines a little and pushes up closer again as Seungcheol attacks his mouth again, their teeth clicking with the force of it. They began to rut frantically against each other, their mouths sliding together wet and hot and needy.

“Ahem”

“Ahem”

They part, gasping for air, blinking. Jihoon tries to clear his head, which is increasingly difficult as he feels Seungcheol’s cock heavy against his thigh and his own arousal rapidly following suit. He flushes when he takes note of his position, arms wrapped around Seungcheol’s neck as he straddles the older boy’s lap. They simply look at each other for a moment, the self-assured smirk is gone from Seungcheol’s face, replaced with a mix of disbelief and concern. They slowly turn their heads to the side, to see the ride attendant standing at the console beside them and realise the ride had ended, that they were still seated in the cart but out in the open air again.

“You know…..people usually save that kinda fun for the tunnel of love” He told them.

Jihoon groans in mortification and quickly scrambles out of the older boy’s lap, jumping out of the cart and out of the attractions gates at a steady pace back towards the Circus tent. A strong arm loops around his elbow, pulling him back and around so that he’s facing Seungcheol. “Hey…slow down….where are you going?”

Jihoon blinks, tries to sort through the words because that was a question, and he's supposed to answer it. “Uh….I was heading back….the others should be finishing soon…” he said, averting his gaze.

Seungcheol glanced at his wrist watch and shook his head “We still got like 15 minutes…..what’s the rush....we could go on another ride” Seungcheol said, reaching over to brush a piece of fluff off Jihoon’s forehead, leaving tingles in the wake of his fingers.

The lingering fear and shock had made Jihoon feel slow and stupid and he had to think for a few moments about what exactly that meant “…..what ride do you have in mind?”

Seungcheol shrugged his shoulders “Who cares…let’s just pick one so we can do that again” he grins, predatory and delighted.

“Uhhm….” Jihoon faltered, blushing visibly under the gaze.

“C’mon….it will be fun” Seungcheol said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Jihoon started to smile, then stopped. A flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. “……there better not be any fucking clowns!”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think I need to say what happens next! Yerrooooooo.


End file.
